Lehigh University Student Is Pennsylvania Zika Traveler

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MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

Welcome to the Lehigh University Health and Wellness Center, which provides acute and ongoing care to approximately 4,800 undergraduate students and over 2,000 graduate students. Our dedicated, professional staff offers a host of services, including acute care, routine examinations, immunizations, lab services, gynecological examinations and contraceptive counseling.

We also have a wellness resource area with over-the-counter medications, and a relaxation room with massage chairs. No appointment is necessary for these services

Our goals are to help individuals stay healthy in pursuit of academic success, and to foster the public health of the campus community.

SUSAN C. KITEI, MD

Director, Student Health Services

 

 

ZIKA VIRUS UPDATE 2.10.16, 4:45 PM:

 

Message to Lehigh Community Regarding Zika Virus

Dear Students, Staff and Faculty,

We have been informed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health that one of our students who traveled abroad over the winter break has tested positive for the Zika virus. We are grateful to be able to report that the student has recovered and is feeling well. 

The Lehigh University Health and Wellness Center has been in direct contact with state health officials, who indicate that there is no additional health risk to anyone on campus.

A Q & A developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can provide more background on the Zika virus: http://www.cdc.gov/zika/disease-qa.html.

Sincerely,

John Smeaton

Vice-Provost of Student Affairs

ZIKA VIRUS UPDATE 2.10.16:

Lehigh continues to monitor the Zika virus outbreak in various countries. No locally transmitted Zika  cases have been reported in the continental United States, but cases have been reported in returning travelers.  Lehigh would like to advise members of the Lehigh community who are considering traveling in areas with the Zika virus to be aware and to take precautions. Updated information about Zika outbreaks around the globe can be found athttp://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/zika-travel-information.

If you are traveling to areas with active Zika virus transmission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advise preventive measures to avoid mosquito bites such as wearing long sleeves and long pants, staying in screened or air-conditioned places, applying government-registered bug repellents and using mosquito nets when sleeping.  You can read more about these suggestions on the CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov/zika/prevention/.

Any individuals who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant should consider avoiding or postponing travel to the affected areas.

More information can also be found at:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/zika

World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/topics/zika/en/

U.S. State Department: https://www.travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/go/Zika.html

We will continue to monitor this situation. Anyone exhibiting symptoms of the disease  – which includes fever, rash, conjunctivitis and joint pain – within two week of travel to an area of concern should contact the Lehigh University Health and Wellness Center for an appointment. Be sure to tell your health care provider when and where you have traveled.

 

http://studentaffairs.lehigh.edu/health

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Map update

 

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=en&hl=en&authuser=0&authuser=0&mid=zv94AJqgUct4.kT4qLMXp3SLU

[niman]

ZIKA VIRUS CASE CONFIRMED AT LEHIGH UNIVERSITY

Updated 1 hr 8 mins ago

 

http://6abc.com/health/zika-virus-case-confirmed-at-lehigh-university/1195315/

 

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (WPVI) --

Lehigh University has confirmed one of their students has tested positive for the Zika virus.

The school says the student had traveled abroad over the winter break.

 

"The Lehigh University Health and Wellness Center has been in direct contact with state health officials, who indicate that there is no additional health risk to anyone on campus," a statement released on the school's website says.

This comes one day after Pennsylvania health officials said two state residentswere diagnosed with the Zika virus.

It's not known if the Lehigh University student is one of those two people.

The University also posted the notice on their Facebook page.
 

 

[niman]

Zika confirmed in Lehigh University student

 

A lab worker holds a vial containing mosqitoes of the species Aedes aegypti that are known to carry Zika virus, on Feb/ 10, 2016, at the International Atomic Energy Agency Laboratories in Seibersdorf, south of Vienna, Austria. Lehigh University said the same day one of its students who had traveled abroad over winter break contracted the virus. (Getty Images | For lehighvalleylive.com)

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By Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com 
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on February 10, 2016 at 6:38 PM, updated February 10, 2016 at 7:12 PM

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A Lehigh University student who traveled abroad over winter break has tested positive for Zika amid a continuing outbreak of the virus.

The Bethlehem school announced the diagnosis in an email Wednesday evening to the Lehigh community, university spokeswoman Lori Friedman said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health relayed the positive test to Lehigh, Vice-Provost for Student Affairs John Smeaton said in the email.

"We are grateful to be able to report that the student has recovered and is feeling well," Smeaton wrote. "The Lehigh University Health and Wellness Center has been in direct contact with state health officials, who indicate that there is no additional health risk to anyone on campus."

Friedman would not comment on whether the student was one of two female Pennsylvania residents who, the state Department of Health said Tuesday, had contracted the state's first confirmed cases of Zika.

 

Zika confirmed in two Pennsylvania residents

Known to spread through mosquito bites, the virus linked to a birth defect is also spread from mother to child, in blood transfusions and through sexual contact.

 

State health officials were not immediately available for comment Wednesday evening on Lehigh's announcement. The state announcement Tuesday on the diagnoses included no further details about the two cases, in an effort to protect patient privacy.

 

This Zika outbreak began in May 2015 and is occurring in many countries. Generally a mild illness, Zika is known to spread primarily through the bite of an infected mosquito.

But in rare cases it has been known to also spread from mother to child, as well as through blood transfusion. Sexual transmission of Zika virus is possible, and men who have traveled to affected areas are advised to take steps to prevent the spread of Zika virus through sexual contact.

"No locally transmitted Zika cases have been reported in the continental United States, but cases have been reported in returning travelers," Lehigh says in a Zika update on its Student Affairs website.

Ana Beatriz, a 4-month-old girl with microcephaly, a feared complication of the Zika virus, is seen Feb. 8, 2016, in Lagoa do Carro, Pernambuco, Brazil. (European Pressphoto Agency | For lehighvalleylive.com) 

Concern about the virus was elevated following reports of increased cases of a serious birth defect known as microcephaly that may be associated with Zika virus infection among pregnant women. Children born with the untreatable disorder suffer from disproportionately small skulls.

Lehigh's email to its campus community included a link to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention question-and-answer feature on the virus.

The university advises contacting Lehigh's Health and Wellness Center if anyone exhibits symptoms of the disease – including fever, rash, conjunctivitis and joint pain – within two week of travel to an area of concern.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2016/02/zika_confirmed_in_lehigh_unive.html